LITMIR.BIZ

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She knew Grace meant it, too. That was the comfort of a place like Serenity. Neighbors helped each other out.

      When she turned to face her son, his expression was troubled.

      “Mom, are we short on cash because of Dad leaving? Is that why you’re trying to find a job?”

      “We’re okay for now,” she assured him. “But the alimony payments your dad agreed to won’t last forever. I’m trying to plan ahead.”

      “I thought Helen and Dana Sue wanted you to start up a new business with them,” he said.

      Maddie was astonished. “How on earth do you know about that?”

      “Mom, it’s Serenity and Dana Sue,” he said.

      “Are you suggesting this town has a thing for gossip?” she inquired wryly. “And my best friend has a big mouth?”

      “I’m not falling into that trap,” he sidestepped neatly. “But I do go to school with Dana Sue’s daughter.”

      “And she’s been talking about this health-club idea?”

      Ty nodded. “I think it sounds cool. I bet it’d be a whole lot more fun than working in some stuffy old office.”

      “I pretty much think what they want me to do is work in their office,” she said.

      “But you like them, right? I do. Dana Sue’s a riot and Helen gives just about the best Christmas presents ever.”

      “Ah, yes. Important qualifications for a sound working partnership.”

      “I’m just saying—”

      She gave his hand a quick squeeze. “I know what you’re saying and you’re right. Working with them would be wonderful.”

      “Then what’s keeping you from saying yes?”

      She’d given the offer a lot of thought the past few days and knew exactly why she was hesitating. She’d even explained it to her friends, but it had fallen on deaf ears. “I don’t want to let them down,” she said honestly. “Right now, I’m just not sure if I can give the job the attention it needs.”

      “Yeah, I know what you mean,” Ty said, startling her.

      “You do?”

      “I know I’m letting the baseball team down,” he admitted. “But I just can’t seem to concentrate. That’s what Coach was all over me about today at practice. He said if I don’t get it together, he’ll pull me from the starting rotation.”

      “Can he do that?” she demanded indignantly.

      Tyler shrugged. “He’s the coach. It’s his call.”

      “He won’t be the coach for long if the team starts losing.” Angry on her son’s behalf, she said, “Want me to talk to him? It’s not fair that he’s leaning on you so hard right now. I’m sure if he understood what’s going on, he’d cut you some slack.”

      Ty looked horrified. “No way, Mom. He’s right. If I suck, I’ve got no business being on the field. I just have to work harder, I guess.”

      “You could call your dad,” she suggested. “He’s always been able to help you before.”

      “No!” Ty said fiercely. “I am not calling Dad about anything, okay? I’m not.” He pushed his unfinished milk shake aside and left the booth. “I’ll wait in the car.”

      “Ty!”

      He didn’t even look back.

      Maddie stared after him in dismay. What on earth was she supposed to do now? It wasn’t as if she could start coaching him. She understood quite a lot about baseball thanks to her son’s love of the game, but she certainly didn’t have any technical expertise. Besides, Coach Maddox had more pitching skill and pro ball experience than anyone in the entire region. If he couldn’t get through to Ty, then maybe what her son needed was counseling of some sort to help him deal with the other issues in his life. Maybe it was time to give that possibility serious consideration.

      Unfortunately, even suggesting such a thing when Ty was still so angry might make the problem worse. He might think she was losing faith in him. In the past she and Bill would have talked over the situation and made a decision together. Now she’d rather eat dirt than turn to him. She had to handle this on her own.

      “Mind a bit of advice?” Neville Wharton asked, slipping into the booth opposite her.

      “I’d be grateful,” she said.

      “If I were you, despite what Tyler says he wants or doesn’t want, I’d sit down with the coach and tell him what’s going on. Cal’s got real good instincts about working with kids if he knows what he’s up against.”

      Maddie tried to imagine spilling her personal humiliation to a man she barely knew. She didn’t think she could do it.

      Neville smiled. “I know what you’re thinking,” he said. “That once you tell one person it’ll be all over town, but the truth is everyone in Serenity probably already knows what’s going on with you and Bill, anyway. And I like the Maddox boy. He’s got a good head on his shoulders. The students at school look up to him, especially the boys on the baseball team.”

      Only someone Neville’s age would refer to the baseball coach as a boy, she thought. Cal Maddox had to be thirty at least, given the time he’d spent in the minors and the all-too-brief time he’d been in the Major League before coming to Serenity two years ago to coach.

      “I’ll give it some thought,” Maddie promised. “Thanks, Neville.”

      “Tyler will be okay,” he reassured her. “That boy of yours is just going through a rough patch, that’s all. It’s tough having his dad walk out. He doesn’t know how to handle it. Same as you, I imagine.”

      He gave her a wink. “And for what it’s worth, I think you ought to open that fancy spa with Helen and Dana Sue, too. I imagine even Grace might wander over there for one of those massages, just to see what it’s like.”

      “Is there anyone in this town who hasn’t heard about their plan?” Maddie asked, exasperated.

      “I doubt it,” he said. “I figure those two gals knew you’d be a hard sell and wanted to get folks on their side to help with any convincing that needed to be done.”

      “Oh, great,” she grumbled. “I’ve half a mind to turn the job down.”

      He grinned. “You’ll get past that,” he said with conviction. “A smart gal like you won’t walk away from the chance of a lifetime just to be stubborn.”

      “You realize if we get half the women in Serenity on some sort of health kick, Neville, your soda fountain will suffer,” she warned him.

      “Nah,” he said, showing a complete lack of concern. “I’ve been in this business more than fifty years. Good intentions can’t hold out against hot-fudge sauce for long. And I’ll be sure to send my best customers over there to work off the calories. That way we’ll both profit.”

      She studied him with surprise. “Then you really think this health club is a good idea?”

      “Are you kidding me?” he asked incredulously. “Have you looked at the magazine racks lately? Fitness and weight loss and all that sort of thing is all anyone writes about these days. That tells me folks must be pretty worked up about it. Women sit at my counter every single day and talk about low-carb this and low-fat that. If it’s a craze, you three gals may as well make some money from it. Goodness knows, you won’t have any competition from Dexter’s.”

      “No question about that,” Maddie agreed. “Thanks, Neville. I’d better get out to the car before Tyler melts. It’s hot as blazes out there, even if it is only March.”

      “I know. Makes you wonder what July will be

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